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DR Congo

Security Council "deeply concerned" about fighting in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Security Council members are "deeply concerned" about the scale of the recent fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Council President Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom said in a press statement today.
Speaking following Council consultations on the situation in the country, he said members were also concerned about the "continuing disregard of the Lusaka agreement."

The Council was calling on "all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and to stop immediately any further violations of the ceasefire under Lusaka," Ambassador Greenstock said.

The Council urged the parties to convene an early meeting of both the political committee set up under the Lusaka accord and the Joint Military Commission, which was established to discuss disputes, and to facilitate the deployment of local military commissions and UN liaison officers.

Council members reiterated the willingness of the United Nations and the international community to work with the parties to the Lusaka accord in order to implement the agreement and bring peace and stability to the region, Ambassador Greenstock said.

But the Council pointed out that in order to play its role in a peacekeeping operation in support of the Lusaka agreement, the United Nations must be confident that the parties themselves are determined to respect the ceasefire, and to refrain from hostile acts and propaganda.